To keep it short and simple I have a 7mm rem mag rem adl and a 270 bdl. Original thoughts were to build the 7mm to a 300 win for long range target shooting and eventually build the 270 to a 280ai for a hunting/ target rifle. Recently read some things on the 280ai not being all that great but I have no first hand experience with them and do not know anybody that does. I already have two completely custom rifles from the ground up in 308 but looking to go further. Just as a side note I have played with some 6mm stuff and 6.5 mm stuff and not impressed yes it will get there but not with any energy. All that being said are tgere any better options to look at that will fit in those actions?
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Help with caliber choice.
- Thread starter Shuamee22
- Start date
I don't own a 280AI but I have seen some impressive data in the reloading section. What bad have you heard about it?
I have several 7mags, I like them. Maybe rebarrel it to a faster twist then you can shoot the longer higher bc bullets.
Also you will need to elaborate on long range target....500-1000-1750yds
I have several 7mags, I like them. Maybe rebarrel it to a faster twist then you can shoot the longer higher bc bullets.
Also you will need to elaborate on long range target....500-1000-1750yds
With the 280ai I have been reading and collecting info for a year or two on it. Sounded like the top all around round for what I’m looking for in a hunting rifle until I started reading the other day. Found several things on them saying they were very finicky rounds and not all that accurate so it got me to wondering if there was a better option out there that I had not come across yet. I would like to shoot this gun 500yds and that is a foolish hunting range to me I will prob never in my life shoot at an animal that far but I would like to have something capable of making the shot. Would like to stretch it out a lot further than that at the range though. Ascot tge magnum action I have I was thinking or a 300win with 230 Berger’s but i don’t know. The 300 win has always been something I wanted to stretch on out with and I have read her and there on it but never had an action to build on so not as much research on it yet just looking for options. I got the action the other day that’s a stock rem 700 7mm buy the guy I got it from had the barrel cut to 20 inches which to me defeats the whole purpose of a magnum so it will be being built first. Both of these rifles are actual old model rem 700s not this rinky dink crap rem puts out now. I don’t know if they have gotten any better but I had 1 out of 6 guns from them about 10 years ago now that was decent it was a rem 700sendero sf2 in 300rum that I wish I had never sold the rest were straight up crap and honestly for what I got was giving them a lot of credit. I now refuse to by anything with the Remington brand on it I don’t care what it is unless it’s the pre buyout remingtons. I’m in ga so I don’t have a wide open desert to play with but I farm and one of my hayfields I’m sure I can get to 1500 yards and prob a little more. I’m all ears on suggestions for either of these actions.
i built a 300wm from a factory rem sendaro. Accurized with a 1-9tw barrel was the cats ass with 215-230 bergers and H1000.
The 280ai is a good cartridge. If you hand load I would
Stay away from a belted magnum case. If you have money and like recoil the 300 Norma mag would be something to look at. Or if you want something a little cheaper to load a 300 prc. If you do not hand load the prc will only give up about 150 FPS to the Norma mag and the ammo is half the cost. Prc ammo is about $2.25 a shot and the 300 Norma is $4 a shot.
Stay away from a belted magnum case. If you have money and like recoil the 300 Norma mag would be something to look at. Or if you want something a little cheaper to load a 300 prc. If you do not hand load the prc will only give up about 150 FPS to the Norma mag and the ammo is half the cost. Prc ammo is about $2.25 a shot and the 300 Norma is $4 a shot.
That’s the way I was leaning but have not looked into anything that size in prob 5-6 years I see where there’s some new Nosler stuff out and the stw not sure how long it’s been out but just now really finding info of it. So new things are out just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Also I Like to shoot and I know when you get into the magnums everybody says they are all barrel burners but would like to have a good one at distance that I can have some barrel life out of too.
Alright, I scrolled past the post with the distances.
A properly built and loaded 6.5 Creedmoor will target shoot at mile with no issues but you either need to handload or work within a narrow range of factory loads to do it consistently. A decent build with most factory match ammo will do very well at 1500. Very different than a 308 as even a really good build starts to struggle past 1k. However I will say that I have been out shot by a 308 at 1425. Bullet and barrel choice matters with LR shooting.
I see nothing wrong with a .280 AI for hunting, but I also see nothing wrong with the 700 rem mag. I also do not agree that a 500-600 yard kill shot is something that should be avoided, and I don't think you need a fat bullet to do it. A skilled shooter taking deer at that distance with a 6.5 Creedmoor is a good kill. Once you start hitting out to 1k and longer on a regular basis, 500 gets really easy.
If you are looking for something that will hit harder all the way around and not leave a gap, sell your stuff and build a .338 Lapua. But in truth, I would sell those actions anyway and buy a custom action. Sounds like you will be shooting more. If that is true, you are going to want something better rather quickly. Lots of ways to go about it, including getting barrels with different chambers spun up for the same action, and multiple bolts for that action if needed.
A properly built and loaded 6.5 Creedmoor will target shoot at mile with no issues but you either need to handload or work within a narrow range of factory loads to do it consistently. A decent build with most factory match ammo will do very well at 1500. Very different than a 308 as even a really good build starts to struggle past 1k. However I will say that I have been out shot by a 308 at 1425. Bullet and barrel choice matters with LR shooting.
I see nothing wrong with a .280 AI for hunting, but I also see nothing wrong with the 700 rem mag. I also do not agree that a 500-600 yard kill shot is something that should be avoided, and I don't think you need a fat bullet to do it. A skilled shooter taking deer at that distance with a 6.5 Creedmoor is a good kill. Once you start hitting out to 1k and longer on a regular basis, 500 gets really easy.
If you are looking for something that will hit harder all the way around and not leave a gap, sell your stuff and build a .338 Lapua. But in truth, I would sell those actions anyway and buy a custom action. Sounds like you will be shooting more. If that is true, you are going to want something better rather quickly. Lots of ways to go about it, including getting barrels with different chambers spun up for the same action, and multiple bolts for that action if needed.
Good to know, I'm in the process of swapping out an -06 to 280AI. I was hoping I wasn't making a mistake.
I have two 308s now built on Stiller actions by accurate ordnance out of winder ga really nice rifles and shoot just over 1100 all day with no problem at all. Just looking to go further with more authority. I will eventually go to a complete custom for whatever I do after these just want to get into a caliber cheaper and see if it’s what I want then go into a complete custom gun and let my wife shoot the other
Yeah, I kind of tried that (lower end gear) with the wife. In the end it cost a crap load more than my 6/6.5 build. Two things happened. 1) she got behind mine one day and said 'oh I like that,' and 2) it is easier to sort out what she is doing wrong when the rifle is removed from the equation. I compounded the issue by upgrading parts on hers rather than just starting over, despite it being crystal clear where things were headed. Still trying to sell off stuff from that shit show.
Lol I hear you. I shoot some with some people that have stuff built on a700 action from the people that built my other two rifles and honestly I don’t really see it bothering me if I get stuck with it they do really good work and the ones I have played with did just as well as my complete custom rifles did. I’ve always heard people say stay away from belted magnums but never bothered to look up what the issue was with them what’s the deal?
I built a 280 AI for 1,000 yard F-class and was impressed with its accuracy and ease of finding accurate nodes. I shot my best 200 yard 5 shot group I have ever shot under a half inch, I only shoot groups when initial sorting out loads. I took the load that shot hat great 200 yards and jumped directly out to 1,000 and was very happy with the results.
The 280 AI I built was not the SAAMI round but the traditional load based off of the 30-06 case, this was before ADG and Peterson started to make brass and I would not build a comp gun that did not start out with Lapua brass. One other benefit going for the original cartridge is it has a little more case capacity than the SAAMI case. But the difference in case capacity is probably not enough to make a noticeable difference. Go with the SAAMI case if you want to buy ammo off the shelf or are worried about resale. Go with the original if you want to use Lapua brass as the parent, fireforming is trivial as you run the 30-06 in the sizer and it reduces the upper portion of the neck leaving the reast of the neck at the 308 diameter which gives you a false shoulder. I turned the necks prior to resizing so I could turn to just below the neck into the shoulder redcuing the chance of the dreaded donut.
For hunting purposes the animals would probably not notice any difference between the 7 RM and the 280 AI at ranges under 700-800 yards. I would have to look at the ballistics tables to get a better idea of the range where the difference in energy would make a difference between the two, so like anything else you read on the internet do the research yourself if those are the ranges you are interested in attaining while hunting. For target practice I do not think steel or paper would ever notice the difference between the two 7 mm cartridges.
Isn't great to have so many choices available to us in terms of cartridges, actions, brass, barrels, etc. that we did not have even 10 years ago.
wade
The 280 AI I built was not the SAAMI round but the traditional load based off of the 30-06 case, this was before ADG and Peterson started to make brass and I would not build a comp gun that did not start out with Lapua brass. One other benefit going for the original cartridge is it has a little more case capacity than the SAAMI case. But the difference in case capacity is probably not enough to make a noticeable difference. Go with the SAAMI case if you want to buy ammo off the shelf or are worried about resale. Go with the original if you want to use Lapua brass as the parent, fireforming is trivial as you run the 30-06 in the sizer and it reduces the upper portion of the neck leaving the reast of the neck at the 308 diameter which gives you a false shoulder. I turned the necks prior to resizing so I could turn to just below the neck into the shoulder redcuing the chance of the dreaded donut.
For hunting purposes the animals would probably not notice any difference between the 7 RM and the 280 AI at ranges under 700-800 yards. I would have to look at the ballistics tables to get a better idea of the range where the difference in energy would make a difference between the two, so like anything else you read on the internet do the research yourself if those are the ranges you are interested in attaining while hunting. For target practice I do not think steel or paper would ever notice the difference between the two 7 mm cartridges.
Isn't great to have so many choices available to us in terms of cartridges, actions, brass, barrels, etc. that we did not have even 10 years ago.
wade
Thanks for all the replies. They’ve giving me a little more to look and research. Just out of curiosity between the 300 Norma and the 300 pic which do y’all think would be the best in the long run as far as which do you think will be around longer which do you think will do better, which do you think will be better on barrel life and anything else you can think of? I’ve heard of the Norma before today never looked up any info on it and never heard of the prc before today . I’ve been reading up on both most of the afternoon trying to see what I can find out but I’d like to hear your opinions on them too. Have not narrowed the field at all just looking into the options.
I'd do either 284 Win with 180's or 300 WSM with 215's, long throats and in a long action.
Both excel in consistency and are popular in F-class, as well as getting decent barrel life. It's the small vertical that makes these appealing.
Both excel in consistency and are popular in F-class, as well as getting decent barrel life. It's the small vertical that makes these appealing.
@Shuamee22,
Why make things complicated when your 7rm will do both jobs very nicely. I found a thread that talks about getting ELR with a 7mm. 180gr at 3000? sounds like a ELR winner to me.
Good luck with your project...
Why make things complicated when your 7rm will do both jobs very nicely. I found a thread that talks about getting ELR with a 7mm. 180gr at 3000? sounds like a ELR winner to me.
Good luck with your project...
I had all but come to the conclusion to stay with the 7mm from things I was reading on it last night. Kinda thinking prc if I go 30 but if I stayed with 7mm should I stay with the rem mag or is there something else worth look at in 7mm that would get me where I want to be?
If you handload, you can get past 1500+ with your 7rm, and be able to hunt with it. You just might have some twist rates to figure out.
There are tons of info here on loading data to help you out.
I like to keep things simple..
There are tons of info here on loading data to help you out.
I like to keep things simple..
